Stolen Lives
by Ana Fluttersby
Summary: Bella s life should feel perfect, but now those weird dreams of him make her wish she slept all day because when she s awake, she misses him, but he only exists in her head… right? November Drabble War entry. Thanks are due to texasbella, who rocks. She s crazy busy and still takes the time to host this.
1. Papaver Somniferum

Another weekend of crazy posting. .::grins::.

Let´s see… what´s the drill again? Ah, yes…

**Twilight **belongs to one **Stephenie Meyer**, or so they say… never heard of that lady before. Until I was disabused of the notion, I could have sworn that Edward was mine. .::wipes tear::. Well, he´s not. .::runs crying::.

I want to thank **Breath-of-Twilight** without whom this story would be nonexistent. Not only is she my fantabulous beta, she actually spanked me relentlessly until I finished it.

Love you, Kelli.

Speaking of Breath of Twilight, there´ll be a **Countdown to Christmas**. Be ready for it.

Did you read the Countdown to Halloween?

No? .::gasp::. Shame on you! Go read!

Yes? Way to go!

There is a banner for **Stolen Lives** posted in the DW Facebook Forum.

No thanks required since I made it myself :p

Um… yeah… I make banners now .::blushes::.

**Part One**

**Isabella Marie**

**Chapter 1**

**Papaver Somniferum**

_I could smell my lust in his breath as he swirled his hips and pushed inside me in a rhythm that caused bright spots of light under my eyelids and gave a demanding tone to my eager pleadings._

"_I can feel you´re close, Marie. What do you need?" he asked with a gruff and almost desperate voice._

_I just thrashed my head from side to side and lifted my own hips faster. He added a pinch to my nipple, and I lost myself in a sea of pleasure._

"_Anthony," I whispered._

I awoke with my wet, busy, unsatisfying fingers inside me.

Every night the dreams took longer to leave me, and if I was to be honest with myself, every night I fought harder to hold on to them. I couldn´t quite place the exact day they started, but in next to no time they had taken over my life.

At first, I told Jake about them. They were so vivid and detailed, and so all around extraordinary that I had to share them with him. Soon, though, as they became something I looked forward to, I began to keep them to myself.

Unfortunately, in time, my dreams started to mutate from pleasure to nightmares.

**The ladies "down there"** are also posting drabbles this November. Go add them to your author alerts (.::scoffs::. As if you don´t have them already) so you know it as soon as they post.

**FB:** Cherry Bellazza Callen **FF name: **addicted-to-romione-bedward

**Title:** Whatever It Takes

**Summary:** One wish can change your life forever. Time traveling is just another true myth of the Quileute's tribe. Can Bella change history by trying to save Edward? To keep him human?

**FB name:** Maria Depp Burton **FF name:** Little-Angry-Kitten

**Title:** TBA

**Summary:**TBA

**FB name:** Le Crepuscule **FF name:** Le Crepuscule

**Title:** Nerds Heart

**Summary:** Bookworm Edward feels lost without a purpose. Athletic Bella feels suffocated by her obligations. Can two people, seemingly so different, be just what the other one needs?

You can find the links to the DW Community and Facebook group in my profile.


	2. Lavandula

1.2 Lavandula

I was picking herbs in my favorite clearing. I always liked to go scouting for new ones. My garden was a thing of beauty and it hadn´t happened over night or spontaneously; it took me years of seeking, transplanting, and caring for all manner of medicinal, aromatic and cooking plants in our region. It really became what it was when I started cultivating foreign plants, though. My favorites were basil and vanilla. But orange blossoms could not be forgotten.

I was happy with my findings, and about to head back to my tiny cottage, when I felt the hairs on the back of my arms and neck stand. It was not an entirely unpleasant feeling, but it put me on edge.

Slowly, I turned my head a little and peeked through the corner of my eye.

Standing in the fringe of the meadow was a man looking at me with intense and surprised eyes.

He was beautiful.

**A/N:**

I´m sorry it´s taken me this long to start posting this time around, but I´ve had a crazy week and I´ll have a crazier weekend still… My sister is getting married tomorrow, and it also happens to be my daughter´s birthday… so yeah. I´m running around like a headless chicken. The story is complete, though, so it´ll be completely posted by Sunday.


	3. Laurus Nobilis

**1.3 Laurus Nobilis **

"No," I moaned, squeezing my eyes shut, battling against wakefulness.

"No?" asked Jake.

"It was a good dream, I just wanted a few more minutes," I sighed.

"You rather dream than have a little extra time with me?" he asked waggling his eyebrows in playful suggestion as he leaned in to kiss me.

I loved my husband; we ´d been best friends since forever, and sex partners since our hormones first awakened.

I also loved sex with him; he made me see stars and dispelled any modest qualms I might have had about our neighbors listening to us fuck, but lately I felt as if I had been cheating on my dream lover with my husband.

I knew I was being absurd, so I gave in and channeled all the residual lust I felt in my dream at the mere sight of Anthony towards making love to Jake.


	4. Capsicum Annum

**1.4 Capsicum Annum **

I looked at him with some trepidation. He was exquisite, but he was a stranger, and I was alone in the woods with nothing but a basket full of lavender blossoms and blueberries.

His gaze appeared to be transfixed, and his lips were moving as if he was speaking to himself. I wondered if he could be a witch casting a spell, but I had been labeled that so often myself due to my herbal concoctions that I knew it was ridiculously easy to just assume things we didn´t know and be cruel merely out of fear.

I moved to start walking away in the direction of my home. That seemed to break him of his reverie and he took a step towards me, making me freeze.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding like he wasn´t sure I would understand.

"Um… hello," I answered as confidently as I could.

He breathed out, looking relieved, and shook his head, blinking several times. Finally, his features settled in a beautiful, lopsided smile.

He raised a rabbit he had in his left hand.

"I´ve been hunting. What do you have there?" he inquired, pointing at my basket.

I felt my eyes grow wide with alarm. "That´s… that´s illegal!" I squeaked, looking around the clearing as if expecting the Duke´s guard to suddenly surround us.


	5. Vanilla Planifolia

**1.5 Vanilla Planifolia **

"I don´t know why you don´t just start commercializing your own beauty products or something," said Alice, shaking the little bag she was holding. "These are really fantastic."

Alice entered my life as a customer. She came in the store one day, and we started talking and bonded over our shared love for all things fluffy and steamy. She had become one of my closest friends since.

"I always wanted a place where people could come to read and relax. It´s what makes me happy, so I figured it could make lots of people happy," I mumbled a variation of the standard answer that she always received when this conversation started while I swept my hand across my store. "That," I added, pointing to the products in the bag, "is just a hobby."

"It´s just a hobby that could make you rich, stupid," she said, smiling Cheshire style.

"Don´t make me roll my eyes again, Alice, they might just stay like that, and I´d died if I couldn´t read."

She huffed. "Selfish creature. Just give me the formulas, recipes… whatever you call them, and I´ll do it for you. You trust me, right?" she sing-sang, batting her eyelashes.

"Of course, I just don´t want to waste your time and money on silly potions."

"Oooh! Silly Potions! I like that name. I have time, and it wouldn´t be my money. I already talked to Edward and he´s onboard."

"Arg! That poor brother of yours must love you. I haven´t even met him, and I can tell he´s another victim of your charms. I´m not contributing to ruining his life by making him lose money."

"More like making him money. Besides, he loves me, that´s true, but he wouldn´t be investing out of love for me… He has his reasons; he has a thing for scents and spices," she said cryptically.


	6. Chamomilla Recutita

**1.6 Chamomilla Recutita **

I grabbed his hand and started running towards my cottage, not once considering I was bringing a stranger to where I lived with my mother and sister, potentially putting them in danger.

"Wait!" he yelled. "Where are we going?"

I shushed him and continued to run, until I tripped over a small rock and landed painfully on the ground, bringing the lawbreaking, pretty stranger down with me.

For a couple of seconds, I could only process that he was pressed against my back, breathing raggedly on my neck, making me tremble. Soon though, the pain in my ankle evolved from dull to sharp, and I could feel it throbbing at the rhythm of my heart.

I whimpered.

"Sorry," he huffed, removing his weight from me. His absence made my pain more prominent, and I felt my eyes tear a bit as I moved to sit. "You´re hurt?" he asked concerned.

I only nodded, because I hated crying; and if I opened my mouth, I would bawl like a baby.

After checking my swelling ankle, he easily picked me up and started walking.

"Where to?" he asked.


	7. Atropa Belladonna

**1.7 Atropa Belladonna **

This is Jacob Black. Leave a message. Beep!

"Jake, where are you? I need to talk to you about something important; it´s about Alice´s proposal."

I hated when Jake wouldn´t answer his phone. It wasn´t often, so I instantly worried, I wasn´t concerned that he would be doing something wrong, like cheating, my mind only went the he-had-an-accident-or-got-mugged route.

I busied myself with dinner while, for the first time, I started considering what Alice was offering. She said I only had to provide the formulas, but there was a problem with that. I had a few concoctions that were basic, but I always experimented a little and not two products were the same. I guessed I could record what I did and select the best results. Where was the fun in that, though?

You wouldn´t be doing it for fun, Bella, I reminded myself. Well, where was the fun in that?

I was a class one hedonist, I literally couldn´t do anything that didn´t bring me pleasure; that´s why I selected my business so carefully. I loved reading and drinking coffee, so I put those together in a place, and voilá! I had a business that fed my belly and my heart.


	8. Eugenia Aromática

**1.8 Eugenia Aromática **

I chanced a look at him, and he had a pensive, confused expression on his perfect face.

"What are you thinking? You´re too quite. What happened to the chatty man of a few minutes ago?"

He glanced briefly at me and blushed lightly. "Nothing," he grumbled.

I pouted. "Right."

He shook his head and expelled a gust of breath. "I don´t want to tell you; you´ll think I´m stupid."

I smiled. "I already think you´re stupid. What smart person hunts on Duke James Plantagenet´s woods?"

"Nice." He faked an offended face. "It´s just that..." he shook his head. "When I saw you in the clearing, I wasn´t sure you were real, or human," he mused.

"What?" I screeched slapping his shoulder and making him cringe, though I was sure it wasn´t from pain.

"You looked like a fairy or an angel."

I just stared at him. He was joking, right?

He looked at my face for a second and continued his nonsense. "And now, I´m still considering that possibility: You don´t smell human. You smell sweet and fresh, and all I want is to bury my nose in your hair."

I was obsessed with good scents, had been since I was little, that´s how I ended up mixing herbs, flowers, and spices. I wanted everything in my world to smell delicious, including myself. But at that moment, my mouth was just hanging open in surprise by his forwardness.

Anthony, that was the name of the rabbit-stealing, nonsense speaking, handsome man that was carrying me to my home, was as smelly as he was beautiful.


	9. Zingiber Officinale

**1.9 Zingiber Officinale **

Jake came home drunk.

That was certainly a first. He came home well past eleven, reeking of alcohol and smoke, looked at me for a few moments, then walked to our room, falling on his back on our bed without removing a single piece of clothing and ignoring my questioning eyes.

It took me hours to fall asleep with all the images that such an occurrence placed in my head. On top of that, he was snoring like an old truck.

When I finally fell asleep, it was mercifully to be in Anthony´s arms.

We were in the nearby creek again; the water was on the cold side, but it wasn´t too bad.

"Are you sure?" he implored.

"Yes, I am."

Anthony was concerned that this daily ritual would hinder his health. I had explained that it was absurd to think that bathing every day would make him sick, especially not from spring through the beginning of fall. And during winter one could do it indoors, with warm water.

I had learned that from the wife of an Asian traveler. They had stayed in our village for a few weeks, and we had become friends. She had the most beautiful, white, clear skin and long, straight, silky dark hair I had ever seen.

When she saw my penchant for perfuming everything around me, she showed me a few tricks to keep the scents purer, and my skin healthier. The main ones: hygiene and hydration.

"I´ll make it worth your while," I whispered, getting rid of my robe and joining him in the water.


	10. Artemisia Dracunculus

**1.10 Artemisia Dracunculus **

His mouth was attached to my nipple and his fingers buried deep inside me, making me scream in pleasure, and I wanted more. I was so greedy when it came to Anthony´s body. I wanted his mouth and tongue, his fingers and his cock, his skin and his taste all over my skin, my tongue, my hands and my pussy at the same time.

His lips ghosting across my belly made me thrash in anticipation. I wanted them to get to their destination as soon as possible, yet I was quivering from them just skimming across my skin as well.

"Please…" I sobbed.

"Shh… I got you, love. I got you," he soothed and flattened his tongue on my clit, making me arch towards him, shamelessly eager for more.

"I want your cock," I panted.

He raised his head a little to search my eyes, and arched a questioning eyebrow. He knew how I loved his mouth on me before he took me.

"In my mouth," I clarified, giving an extra level of lust to his stormy green eyes.


	11. Thymus Vulgaris

**1.11 Thymus Vulgaris **

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Anthony!" I moaned as I climaxed. I snapped my eyes open as I heard the words leave my mouth.

I realized I had been dreaming, but that the lips currently frozen between my legs were a lot more substantial and real. I directed my eyes at them, and found Jacob looking at me with a mixture of anger and hurt.

"Fuck!" I groaned.

"I don´t think so," Jake bit back.

"Jake…" I said conciliatorily.

"Save it, Bella. I´m sick of you sighing that fucking name in you sleep, I just can´t believe you would scream it while I´m licking you! You don´t think I´ve notice how much more passionate you are after one of those dreams of yours. That used to be for me… Now I´m competing with a ghost, less than that, even!"

"I love you, Jake," I tried.

"Do you?"

He sounded so cynical and defeated.


	12. Allium Schoenoprasum

**1.12 Allium Schoenoprasum **

We were at the meadow where we met. Our meadow. The sun was on its way to the horizon, but it still warmed our skin.

I was slowly moving on top of him, inclined forward, my hands on his chest, and my hair creating a little cocoon of intimacy around our faces.

"I´m close, love, hurry. I want to see and feel you come before I do."

I moved one hand to rub my clit to hasten the process, to please him. I knew he would make me come with his fingers or mouth if he came inside me before I did; I wasn´t worried about being left unsatisfied.

I felt him tense with the approach of his orgasm at the same time I heard hooves heading our way.

"Anthony! Anthony!" I whispered urgently to warn him, but he must have mistaken my tone, because he immediately let go.

"Yes, Marie!" he hissed.

"No, Anthony. Someone´s coming. Listen!"

But it was too late.

"What do we have here?" an arrogant voice drawled.

"Looks like they are coupling, my Lord," leered one of the guards.

"I don´t think that´s possible, Laurent, they can´t be married. This girl hasn´t had the pleasure of warming my bed, and I have Prima Nocte rights around here."

"We are not married," stated Anthony.

"You are fornicators, then. That´s a sin. But I am a generous man. I will ask Father Michael to marry you. I will, however, exercise my rights. Though I´m not sure it could be called Prima Nocte anymore," he said making his guards guffaw. "And I´ll even forgive your thieving," he nodded towards a half hidden, dead rabbit peeking out from the bushes.

"No!" Anthony growled, hardening his protective stance in front of me.

"Seize them," said the Duke in a gleeful voice.

**A/N**

Yep. That´s that for today.

Another 12 tomorrow and 12 more on Sunday

Thanks for the reviews I love them.


	13. Rumex

**A/N:** Good morning! Today is a happy (if hectic) day for my family. It´s my little girl´s 13th b-day and my sister´s wedding. Yeah, I kinda wanna kill her for that, but she´s so happy I have no choice but forging her.

As promised, I´ll post 12 chapters, what I can´t guarantee is doing it in any orderly fashion, I´ll sneak here whenever I can. Or would you rather I post them in a chunk?

If each reader gave me one review at some point of the story telling what they think, it´ll be fantastic. You know us ff writers are a little bit addicted to them. .::winks::.

Thanks for the words of encouragement you´ve already gifted me. .::hugs::.

**1.13 Rumex **

I woke up covered in sweat, shivering and sobbing.

So far I had been enjoying my dreams, albeit guiltily, not really analyzing them. But the depth of my anguish as I woke up from that nightmare could not be normal.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What´s this about?" I cried as quietly as I could. But I could not contain my sobs; they were actually getting louder, so I got up from the bed and locked myself in the bathroom. The last thing I needed was Jake waking up and seeing me cry so hard over Anthony.

I tried to retain the clarity of the dream, but it was quickly fading, and all that it left behind was the dreadful sense of panic.

I half wanted to go back to sleep again and dream him safe and happy with Marie… with me… But I was terrified to discover what that horrible man had done to them.

I tiptoed towards the kitchen, drank two cups of water, and splashed my face with cold water from the sink before returning to my bed a little calmer.

"You´re awake?" Jake mumbled as he felt me get under the covers.

"Yes… just thirsty," I lied.

I fell back into a restless sleep plagued by weird, faceless dreams.


	14. Coriandrum Sativum

**1.14 Coriandrum Sativum **

"You look awful!" Alice exclaimed.

I nodded.

"What´s going on, Bella?" she asked softly.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head, heaving a sigh and closing the book I was reading.

"Uhu," she said dubiously, but dropped it. "What are you reading?" she asked while dragging my book towards her. "Brian Weiss?"

"Yeah," I said, grabbing it back. She looked around me and saw all the reincarnation related titles.

"Tell me," she demanded, frowning.

"Nothing to tell you about," I denied.

"I know my fair share of this subject." My eyes snapped up to meet hers, and she nodded. Her expression was more serious than I had ever seen before.

"Why?"

"Tit for tat. You first."

We moved to one of the comfortable couches I had around for my happy, caffeine-addicted readers.

"For months now I have been having these dreams. First, I only marveled at their vividness, the intensity of the feelings they evoked, but now, they´ve turn dark and unsettling and leave me anguished and depressed."

"What are they about?"

"There´s this couple, and I get to witness their lives, their love. She makes silly potions, too… Alice, the worst or best thing, I don´t know anymore, is that it feels as if I´m the girl, Marie…"

I heard Alice gasp and lifted my gaze from my lap. She looked pained, her eyes squeezed shut and her lips trembling.


	15. Calendula Officinalis

**1.15 Calendula Officinalis **

"What is it, Alice?"

"Come with me," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.

"Alice, wait! You said you would tell me, and I can´t just leave in the middle of the day!"

She stopped for a minute and turned, obviously trying to work around that impediment.

"Victoria?" she hollered, disturbing a few clients. Vicky came leisurely, porting a very annoyed look on her face that Alice blatantly ignored. "You´ll have to close tonight. Bella´ll be busy."

With that she towed me out of my store and shoved me into her car.

"I feel as if you're kidnapping me," I grumbled.

"Hush, I´m thinking," she said.

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest. "You are being crazy. Crazier than usual that is, and bossier."

She ignored me. At the first red light, she pulled her cell out and furiously texted someone. "Alice… You are freaking me out," I pleaded.

"Sorry," she sighed. "It´ll be fine, I swear. I´m following my gut here."

"Mind telling me what your gut is taking us to?"

"I rather not."

"Fuck, Alice, that doesn´t help your not-acting-crazy look, you know?"

"I do know. Still, no. Sorry,"

"At least Vicky knows I left with you, in case you are planning to chop me into little pieces," I mumbled.

"Don´t be ridiculous," she chuckled.

"Look who´s talking," I said, at the same time that her cell beeped with an incoming message.


	16. Cymbopogon Citratus

**1.16 Cymbopogon Citratus **

"Where are we?"

We had parked outside a very fancy looking office building.

"You´ll see."

We entered and a leggy blonde greeted us at the door. "Miss Cullen, how are you today?"

"In a hurry, Rosalie," she breathed, and smiled, poking the elevator button a few unnecessary times.

"Oh," answered Rosalie.

"We have lots to talk about, though. Lunch this weekend?" Alice asked her, smiling.

"Of course," she said smiling back.

"Who is that?" I asked in wonder. I had never seen a woman that beautiful outside of a magazine´s page.

"That is Edward´s right hand, Rosalie Hale-McCarty."

"And she calls you Miss Cullen?"

"Ah, she´s absurd like that. But she only does it when we are here, and if I have company," she winked at me.

"Wait, we are going to your brother´s office?"

"Hmm," she eloquently answered.


	17. Curcuma Longa

**1.17 Curcuma Longa **

We got out of the elevator and Alice walked down a hallway with the comfort that familiarity provides, before opening a set of heavy wooden doors in a glaring attempt at being dramatic.

"I told you, I was busy, sis… What´s so-?" a man who I subconsciously knew was Edward began asking, his words catching and fading as he looked up at me.

My conscious mind was stuck still, paralyzed with shock. Had I been able to process more than the simple need to breath in that moment, I would have realized that Alice´s brother was just as stunned as I was.

My mind, though, had decided to desert me in my moment of need, and apparently so had my lungs, because, judging by the darkness that started to envelop me, I was neglecting the vital function of breathing and well on my way to fainting.

In that, I succeeded.

"No! Please, no! We´ll do it. We´ll get married and you´ll have your Prima Nocte, my Lord. Of course you will, it´s your right. We know, we´re sorry… please, please, just stop hurting him."

"No, Mar-"Anthony began, but was quickly silenced by a brutal fist to his ribs; the guard then gagged him.

"Why would you want to marry such a stupid, irreverent man, sweet, bright girl?" Duke James Plantagenet asked, faking concern for our situation.

"You are right, of course, my Lord. But I would be shamed if I didn´t marry him. He took my innocence; no one else would want me now," I pleaded, trying with all my heart to appease our captor.

The Duke smirked at me as he pretended to consider my words.

"Don´t you want him punished for such a hideous crime against you and, worst of all, God?"

"Please, my Lord… We´ll do whatever you want."

I didn´t dare look at Anthony as he grunted and tried to scream around his gag rag; I would lose my courage if I saw the disgust he was surely feeling towards me. But I could not let him be hurt any longer, or worse, be killed. I could not.


	18. Valerianella Locusta

**1.18 Valerianella Locusta **

"Bella?" Alice's voice sounded distant, but I managed to locate her eyes and focus on them.

"Ally? Ally, that´s Anthony…" I whimpered, and realizing my own words, I fumbled to a sitting position on the couch I had been resting against while my eyes frantically searched for him.

"I know," she soothed, caressing my hair.

"Where is he?" I asked, starting to panic at his absence.

"Puking in the bathroom. I guess he was as surprised as you were."

"No shit! Alice, you should have told me!"

"I had to be sure. Besides, would you have come if I´d told you?"

"Yes! No… I don´t know… yes?"

Alice gestured with a hand in a way that clearly stated I had just proved her point with my ambiguity.

Edward chose that moment to return to his office, looking pale and anxious, but trying desperately to look calm.

"Edward, this is my friend Bella, the one that makes herbal potions," Alice winked and grinned. "Bella, this is Edward, my brother. I think you remember each other as Anthony and Marie."


	19. Petroselinum Crispum

**1.19 Petroselinum Crispum**

Edward and I remained where we were, one sitting, one standing, for many long minutes.

Gradually, we started to move towards one another. Eyes wide in wonder, heads certainly filled with questions, hearts brimming with emotions, and mouths devoid of words.

Soon, we were close enough to touch, and we wasted no time. We let our hands explore each other's faces, stopping at lips and noses, at eyelashes; we let our eyes see what they had missed all those long centuries.

"It´s really you," he whispered, burying his nose in my hair and inhaling deeply. His voice melted me and brought a fresh wave of awareness. This was real; this was truly happening.

"How?"

"You don´t remember?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I only know you were my lover, well, Anthony and Marie… this is too confusing… and that some noble captured them and was torturing him. But I don´t understand how we are here, how we are them," I whispered.

"James Plantagenet was the Duke of York about five centuries ago. He made me watch as he raped you, and a few months later, when he found out you were pregnant, he killed you, because he didn´t want a bastard and hated the possibility that it could be mine," he stated bluntly. The desolation in his face was devastating.

"But why are we here now? How is that possible? And why did I just start dreaming about you mere months ago? Oh, my God! Jake!" I exclaimed, worming my body out of Edward´s embrace.

"Who´s Jake?"

"My husband…" I whispered.

"You are married?" he asked, sounding thoroughly shocked.

"Yes," I squeaked.

"Goddammit!" he yelled, making me jump.

"Calm the fuck down, Edward! You were married once, remember?" chastised Alice, who I had completely forgotten had been in the room with us.

"Um… yeah. Right. Sorry." He sighed and moved to sit down, bringing me along by my hand. "I guess you want to know why or how we´re here?"

"Yes. All this seem surreal. How can I know you, let alone love you from just my dreams?"

Edward smiled brightly. "You love me," he exulted, making me blush.

"Please, just explain," I begged.

"Yeah. I already know all this and I think I´m not needed here at the moment. I´ll be just outside," said Alice, wiping tear from her cheek before leaving us alone.

**A/N:** Um… yeah. The Plantagenets did have some Dukes around that time. James, of course, wasn´t one of them; I just wanted it to sound accurate, even if it pure fiction.


	20. Anethum Graveolens

Edward Anthony Anethum Graveolens

_After Marie´s death, James threw me in a dungeon and forgot the key. I wished he had forgotten my existence as well, but that he remembered accurately, and he proved his good memory by keeping me alive to have me listen to his recount of every minute of her final moments._

"_She felt so warm inside. I can see why you liked to screw her. Even when her skin felt cold, she was always warm inside her. Maybe it was because of the blood; I´m too big for some cunts," James said, grabbing his crotch obscenely._

_I only stared at the soot covered ceiling of my prison. "You are too thin, Anthony, aren´t you eating well enough? Isn´t the food to your taste? I was very specific about your diet. It´s from my own table you´re being fed. Show some gratefulness. You liked to steal my rabbits, now you get to eat them as a present from me."_

"_Just let me die…" I croaked. _

"_Now, why would I do such a thing?"_


	21. Zanthoxyllum Piperitum

Zanthoxyllum Piperitum

"When I thought I could simply die of heartache, your sister found me… Marie´s sister," I clarified. "She never told me how she got past the guards, but I have a fair notion of what she might have done," I whispered.

"My sister? I know I had a sister, but I´ve never seen her or my mother in my dreams."

"Memories, Bella, not dreams. And you know your sister. She was called Angela. Today, you know her as Alice," I smiled and nodded at Bella´s gasp. "Your mother, Tia, was named Esme this time; unfortunately, she died three years ago, as _my_ mother."

Bella burst in tears. When she had calmed, I continued.

"_Anthony," Angela whispered urgently. "Anthony, wake up! You have to get out of here and find the Centaurs."_

"_Angela? I was having a nightmare…" I trailed off as I took in my surroundings, and swallowed convulsively. "It wasn´t a nightmare…"_

"_No, it wasn´t. But you can undo this, or rectify it… You need to go to the Dense Woods and find the Centaurs."_

"_The what?"_

_Angela exhaled, exasperated. "Centaurs, Anthony! You´ve heard of them."_

"_They are mythical, Ange." _

_I was thinking Angela had lost it, but she had somehow opened my cell and was urging me to go out._

"_Please, hurry. We don´t have time to waste."_

_I plopped back down on the bed. "Just let me die…" I muttered._

"_Arg! No! Get up and let´s go!"_

_She somehow dragged me out of my cell; it took her a little longer to release me from my mental prison._

_I spent a few days hiding in a cave where Angela brought me food that made me cry. It tasted like the meals Marie prepared for me. But she insisted that I´d need all my strength back if I wanted to have a chance at surviving the Dense Woods._

_If I had cared about my life, I might have been terrified to go there, but as it was, I was rather hoping I would die._

_Angela said that Centaurs had magical powers, and that they knew spells that would make Marie return to life, spells that would make it possible for us to be together; and deep inside, amidst the haze of apathy I was submerge in, I was hoping it was true._

_When I was ready, I simply marched to the woods, carrying a bag that Angela had prepared for me with food, water, some medicinal herbs, and a lock of Marie´s hair._


	22. Juniperos Communis

Juniperos Communis

_I was exhausted and hopelessly lost, and had laid down on the cold, wet ground of the forest that teamed with an infinite supply of insects that bit and crawled, unwelcome, inside my clothing and beyond._

_I didn´t care much._

_I was having a pleasurable dream where Marie kissed my face repeatedly. I would have died happily with the feel of her lips on my skin, even if it was just an illusion, when the sound of hooves intruded my subconscious and mixed with my dream, turning it into a nightmare. A nightmare that once had been real and marked the end of the only life that mattered to me._

_I woke up with my heart beating desperately fast, sweating despite the cold, and paralyze by terror._

_I heard loud voices yelling in a strange language that was crude but beautiful and melodic._

"_Ici humini repos´es."_

"_Hunimi? __Vívide?"_

_From where I was laying I could only see the legs of the horses that circled around me. I dared not even blink, so my eyes remained open. It was not that I was scared of dying, which would have been welcomed. But I didn´t want to go back to that dungeon, where James would do what he could to keep me alive to satisfy his sadistic need to inflict pain on others._


	23. Elletaria Cardamomum

Elletaria Cardamomum

_I felt hands grab me and ropes fastening around my body. First, I only closed my eyes and let it happen, but my brain started working slowly, and I began to understand that these were not the Count´s guards._

_For one, they were not dragging me behind their horses with my hands tied to a rope. They were carrying my secured body on a sort of liter. I could feel the swinging motion of it as we moved through the woods._

_I open my eyes again and tried lifting my head to get a better view of my captors, who continued to speak in that weird language, but now, they were laughing, too. It sent chills of foreboding down my spine. _

_I must have been ill, feverish, because I could have sworn the horses and the humans were mixed in a single being. I blinked slowly, and closed my eyes again. Centaurs, I thought. So Angela was right._

_Would they kill me now? Since I had found them, well, they found me. I was hoping they would allow me to plead my case. If there was a chance that I´d see Marie again, I was going for it. Suddenly, I didn´t want to die quite as much as I had a few hours ago._


	24. Cinnamomum Zeylanicum

Cinnamomum Zeylanicum

_The undulating motion of my transport lulled me back to sleep, or maybe it was the exhaustion. I woke up again in an enclosed space. If it hadn´t been warm and faintly illuminated by a soft golden fire, I might have panicked, but it was so comfortable. I moved my hands along the surface I was lying on, and my skin was treated to a soft, furry material. _

_The cave, I discovered that´s what it was by swiveling my neck left to right, where I had been sleeping smelled of cinnamon and clove, and something else I didn´t recognize. I guessed Marie hadn´t had that other mysterious herb in her garden. The scent made me hungry, but thirst soon became my main concern._

_I attempted getting up, but my head swam as soon as I lifted it more than an inch from my bedding. I rested for little while longer before trying to get up again._

_In small increments, I was finally able to hold my body in a sitting position. From that vantage point I could see more of my cave. There was a cauldron hanging over the fire, and I guessed that was the source of the sweet, delicious, Marie-like scent. Nearby, but not at hand, there was a jug that I hoped contained water. _

_I made my body move towards the inviting jug with the promise of fresh water. Once I reached it, though, I thought I´d better be careful. What if it wasn´t water? I smelled it, but the overpowering scent emanating from the cauldron wouldn´t allow much space for judgment on the liquid from the jug. It looked clear._

_I inserted a single finger, and the clear, tiny drop that formed at the tip of it looked like simple, perfect water._

_I let the drop fall on my tongue._

_It was water._

**A/N**: Well, I´m off to my sister´s wedding/daughter´s birthday.

Tomorrow, you´ll see the last of these two.

Thanks for reviewing, lovelies :) reading your reviews makes me truly happy.


	25. Citrus Aurantifolia

**A/N:**Good Morning, peeps! Let´s unveil this, shall we? I´m in love with you reactions, btw. ;)

I was kinda expecting you to ass about the titles sooner, it was the lovely Lolo84 who asked. Any guesses?

**IMPORTANT! **TwiLighT7242 is also posting her drabble Defining Facts, Theories, and Dogmas this month, how could I not said before? .::smh::.

Citrus Aurantifolia

_After eagerly drinking half the precious liquid, I dragged myself sluggishly out of the cave. I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but I figured the safe, smart thing would be to investigate my surroundings. _

_I half remembered horses… no… Centaurs. Could it be true? _

_That thought injected energy into my weakened body. If it was true, and Angela had been right, then maybe she had been right about Marie._

_I had taken only a few steps outside the cave, and into the biting cold, when the length of a spade smacked against my chest._

"_P´on va cree´ti?"* asked an impressively tall chestnut centaur._

"_I´m sorry, I don´t understand," I croaked._

_The creature flared his nostril and breathed out in annoyance._

"_Where do you think you are going?" he asked in perfect English, sounding mighty pissed at being made to speak such language._

"_I don´t know. I woke up, and didn´t know where I was," I said, speaking as serenely as I could manage. "I still don´t," I whispered._

_The Centaur didn´t care if I knew or not, he only grunted "Stay in the cave!" and left._

_I went back to the cave to investigate the cauldron, instead._

***uh… yeah… I forgot to clarify that that´s not a human language. Though, it´s real enough for the Centaurs of the Dense Woods. ;)**


	26. Pimpinella Anisum

Pimpinella Anisum

_Next to the fire there was a low but wide tree stump, and on top of it there were dry and fresh fruits, and something that looked like bread, but it was shaped like a spiral and was shiny and golden on top._

_I grabbed an apple and a pear and devoured them. I would not have registered the taste in my haste to get them to my stomach if it hadn´t been for their intense sweetness._

_Even if I wasn´t anywhere near being satisfied, I was curious about the bread-like food. I poked at it with my finger and discovered it was sticky. I studied the residue it left on my finger for a bit before smelling it and eventually tasting it with the tip of my tongue._

_It was sweeter than the fruit, still._

_Praying that it wasn´t some sort of poison, I bit into the soft mass. It tasted intensely of cinnamon and honey, but it was definitely bread. _

_Marie had never made anything like this, and she did wonders in the kitchen._

_After the cinnamon roll, I took to calling it that, I had an orange and some grapes, and finished the water. I wasn´t sure if going through the food like that was such a good idea, but as I felt a lot better, I didn´t really care._

_I was contemplating sleeping for a bit, when an incredibly beautiful white centaur entered the cave._

**A/N:** Yes, Tinsley Warren, that´s what they mean. It´s their scientific names. :)


	27. Illicium Verum

Illicium Verum

"_I´m Didyme, __First __Kentauride of my clan__. What brings you to my Woods?" _

_I had no time to acknowledge that I had no idea what she meant, I just had to tell her why I had sought them out._

"_My love was murdered along with the child she was carrying inside; I was told you could help me bring her back."_

_Didyme swung her hair and her tail, and looked at me with grave eyes._

"_You have no idea what you´re asking for, do you, human?"_

"_I just want her back. I won´t live without her."_

"_And you´re willing to pay the price?" she sneered, making her angelic features look threatening._

_I swallowed but nodded. "I´ll do whatever it takes."_

"_Come here, human."_

"_I´m Anthony," I offered._

"_Your soul has no human name, and that´s all that concerns me."_

_I approached her, and as soon as I was standing within reach, she transformed into a human. Her hands took a hold of me, and their strength was surprising. While her left hand was placed on my neck, the right went on top of my heart._

_Pleasant warmth spread from her hands and invaded my body; but as the minutes ticked off, the warmth became uncomfortably hot, and soon became unbearable, as her hands seared my skin and seemed to make my blood boil and char my insides._

_I was sure I was screaming, but I could not hear my voice over the high pitched song that was coming through the kentauride's mouth._


	28. Artemisia Vulgaris

**Artemisia Vulgaris**

_Didyme let go of me, and my body fell like a ragdoll at her feet. _

_Breathing hard, I got on hands and knees, because that was as far as I could go, and lifted my eyes towards her. She was no longer human, and she towered over me._

"_Pick it up and wear it around your neck," she instructed incomprehensibly._

"_Pick what up?" I asked while I searched the ground. She didn´t respond, but she didn´t need to. A mere foot from my right hand was Marie´s lock of hair, woven into a necklace._

_I took it and did as Didyme said._

"_And now listen to what you must do," she_ _said in a harsh, demanding tone. "For you to be reunited with you love, you must die."_

_I laughed at the irony. It was so absurd. I had wanted to die, and this quest of centaurs had only delayed me. _

"_That´s… very helpful," I said sardonically._

"_Silence, human! I´m not done talking."_

_I nodded, the least I could do was listen to her. She had found me when I had been lost, cared for me when I had been sick, and fed me, too._

"_You have to die, as I said. But not you alone. You must kill the one who killed her," she smiled too sweetly, possibly foreseeing my glee._

"_Happy, are you? Pay attention, human. You must also kill her sister and mother."_

"_No!" I gasped. "I can´t… won´t do that!"_

"_You must, Anthony," she said sweetly, saying my name for the first time._

"_This magic you asked for requires the energy of all of those that deeply affected her life. The spell is already in motion, and if you fail to fulfill your part, Marie will be stranded forever between worlds, never to reenter this plane again._

_I hung my head; I knew I would do anything for Marie. Including murdering her family._


	29. Mangifera Indica

Isabella Marie Mangifera Indica

"You didn´t!"

"We are here. Obviously, I did," Edward whispered. "That´s why Alice and my mother were with me, not you. We traveled together, in search of you."

"But… but what about James? If we are all here, shouldn´t he be here, too?"

He shrugged. "I guess we´ll meet him one day. So far, I have never encountered him. Not to my knowledge, anyways, I might have and never known about it. You didn´t recognize Alice, and she didn´t recognize you, either. She only knew who you really were when you talked about Marie."

"This is all too much. I have so many questions, and something tells me they have no satisfactory answers," I mumbled shaking my head. "What now?"

"I´m not letting go of you, now, Bella."

"I´m married, remember?"

"Right," he huffed with an air that suggested that was merely a petty obstacle.

I looked pointedly at him. "You are assuming a lot, Edward."

His cocksure expression morphed first to one of anxious uncertainty, and then to furious determination.

"I´m not letting go of you!" he gritted out of clenched teeth.

"You´ll _make_ me stay?" I defied, scoffing.

"I don´t have to, you are mine. You know this," he chuckled.

My laughter carried no humor. It made me angry how right he was, and how arrogant he was about it.

"I´m yours?" I asked in a flat tone.

He sighed. "You are not?" he countered with a smirk. "It´s mutual, you know. I´m equally yours."

"I can´t deal with this. I guess I´ll see you around, we are magically destined to be together, after all," I said on my way out the door.

In two strides he caught up with me and swung me around by the arm, bringing me flush with his chest. He took half a second to look into my eyes before he kissed me.

No, there was no doubt. We belonged to each other.


	30. Citrus Paradisi

Citrus Paradisi

Edward divested me of my burdensome clothing, as little as they were, it was still too much and it impeded our frantic hands from continuing the exploration they had started early on.

"Can you feel it?" he panted.

"Shut up, Antho- Edward…"

"You can call me Anthony if you want," he chuckled as he ghosted his lips down my neck.

"Shut it, I said!"

He chuckled again.

It was like walking down a well known path that you hadn´t visited in a long time. It filled me with the surprise and emotiveness of recognition.

I took my time savoring the skin of his chest and abdomen, teasing him a little when, after lingering in his Adonis belt, I moved up again. I felt his labored breath on the top of my head and saw his hands hesitate a little, undecided on making me, or not, go where he wanted me. He opted for fisting his hands besides his body for a little while. I would not have that.

"Touch me, Edward," I whispered.

His hands trembled as he moved them down my back, but soon they were confident in their movements. I wanted him. I made my desire clear and hoped he could see that I was his, truly and completely. He had no need to be hesitant or cautious.

Our roles change from explored to explorer with the capricious swings of our patience, which soon ran out.

There was nothing like the moment he slipped inside me. A wonderful sense of completeness and acute pleasure, which only increased with each thrust of his hips, invaded me.

"Kiss me," I whispered.

He shook his head.

"I love that expression on your face, it´s like you didn´t know what to expect," he whispered, moving us to euphoric highs. "Let my eyes feast."

I had never enjoyed corny words in real life, but his made me melt, and coupled with the grunts and moans he let out as he fiercely pounded into me, they had me clenching around him and screaming incoherencies in no time.


	31. Origanum Majorana

Origanum Majorana

"I have to go," I whispered against his neck.

"I know," he said, securing his hold on me, his arms and legs like boa constrictors around me.

"Edward…" I said, running my fingers through his hair. "What am I going to tell Jake? I can´t tell him the truth, either he´ll think I´m bullshitting him or he´ll have me committed."

"Just tell him part of the truth. That you don´t love him anymore and that you love me."

"Who says I don´t love him? He´s been my best friend and lover for most of my life… I don´t want to hurt him. I might not be as in love with him as I used to be, Edward, but I do love him."

I felt Edward tense at my words. "I… I hate him."

As unfair as they were, I could understand his feelings, but they still hurt me. "He´s my friend… my best friend," I reproached him.

"I´m sorry."

I was a mess. I knew that what I felt for Edward was absurd in its apparent suddenness, but I also knew that it wasn´t something actually new.

"Give me a few days to figure out what to do with my life."

"No. We´ll figure it out together."

"I can´t very well go home to my husband, to perform the unattainable task of painlessly ending my marriage with you in tow!"

"You don´t need a few days for that. Please, I´ve waited so long…"

This was an impossible situation.


	32. Cuminum Cyminum

Cuminum Cyminum

I left Edward with a sense of despair that such a short-timed separation didn´t warrant.

Back home, I took a long bath and wore comfortable clothes. I had no idea of what I was going to tell Jacob; I dreaded hurting him just as I would dread losing a limb.

I heard the noises that meant he had come home with increasing anxiousness. My palms were sweaty and cold; I felt shaky and nauseated.

After a few minutes of agonizing waiting, Jacob still hadn´t come up to our room. I was tempted to feign sleep, but I knew that would not help matters in the least.

I was starting to get pissed at Jacob for extending my predicament. Though I realized that he had no clue that I was waiting for him to talk, it was rather uncommon for him to linger downstairs when he came home from work, and I was taking it personally.

I was about to go find him —it took a while to convince my legs to uncurl from under me— when I finally heard his steps on the stairs.

He stood at the entrance, looking at the floor and wringing his hands.

"We need to talk," he mumbled, raising his troubled and utterly sad eyes to mine.


	33. Mentha

Mentha

A thousand possibilities entered my mind, most of them were variations of _he knows about Edward_, but not in a million years could I have foretold what he actually said.

I nodded. "Come sit by me," I suggested, softly patting the space on the bed next to me.

He eyed me suspiciously, and hesitated for a second before acquiescing to my request.

"Bella, I... we… You know I love you, right?"

I could not understand his nervous hesitance, but I nodded.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed jumping off the bed. "I don´t know how to do this…"

"Jake, just tell me…" I beseeched, cowardly leaving in his hands the responsibility of dropping the bomb.

"I met someone," he whispered.

I was too perplexed to respond. I was afraid he might have been joking, amused at the irony, and selfishly hurt. He took a big breath and continued. "He´s the new head of our creative department."

"Wait, what? You mean she, right?"

Looking me in the eyes, he shook his head. "His name is Riley."

I burst out laughing. It was beyond inappropriate, but I could not help it. I was hysterical, rendered stupid by shock and relief.


	34. Mentha Spicata

Mentha Spicata

Jacob stood there, in the middle of our room, looking hurt and apprehensive. When he turned to leave, I did my best to calm myself down. "No, Jake, don´t go!" I giggled. "I´m sorry. I´m not laughing at you," I panted, winded from my laughing fit.

"_You_ are sorry?" he asked, unbelieving.

"Look. I won´t pretend to have assimilated what you just said, I´m not sure I ever will, to be honest, but I have something to tell you, too. I was actually waiting for you to come home so we could talk."

"Bella, you are freaking me out with this weird reaction. Are you OK? I mean, not OK, OK… but… shit!"

"Well, my husband just told me he´s in love with a man. I´m entitled to act a little crazy."

His face crumpled a little. "I´m sorry, I…"

"Shh… Jake, come." I patted the bed again, and waited for him to sit before I spoke. "I met someone, too."

"It´s Alice, right?"

That had me laughing for another minute while I shook my head and tried to speak, despite the unrelenting laughter.

"No, Jake, it´s not Alice. It´s her brother, Edward."

"We are such a pair, huh?"

"So… how long have you been gay?"

"Bisexual."

I snorted. "Bisexual, then."

"I have no idea."

We relaxed on our bed and hugged, and talked, and laughed. We also cried a lot. It wasn´t easy to start letting go of a relationship that had been our entire world for most of our lives.


	35. Myristica Fragrans

Myristica Fragrans

"Bella, thank God," Edward answered on the first ring.

"Hi." I had no idea why I was feeling awkward. I guessed I was still in the process of digesting the latest developments of my life.

We lingered in uneasy silence for a bit.

"Did you… How did… Are you ok?" he asked eventually.

"I´m OK, I guess… still in shock, but fine… I guess…"

"In shock? Did he hurt you?" he growled.

I sighed. "No, Edward. Jacob would never hurt me. You´ll meet him, and you´ll see for yourself."

"Why would I meet him?"

"He´s my friend, of course you´ll meet him."

"Your friend? You´re not making any sense. I thought he was your husband?"

"He is, but soon he´ll only be my friend."

"I… you are both a lot more civilized than I´m used to… when Tanya and I got divorced, she hated me for months. Now, she merely tolerates me. We are definitely not friends."

"I´ll tell you all about our strange civilized behavior when we see each other again." I giggled. I felt giddy just thinking about seeing him again.

"In a few minutes, then. Because you should know, I´m on my way."

"You don´t even know where I am."

"Sure I do."

"Ok, you have fifteen minutes to prove that statement."

"Make that five," he said and hung up.

He made it in four.


	36. Sinapis Alba

**Victoria Jamieson 4.0 Sinapis Alba**

I saw them holding hands, embracing, kissing and looking adoringly into each other´s eyes.

I hated their evident happiness.

How could she have gone from Jacob to Edward without a hitch? There was no transitory period of grieving over her failed marriage. I wanted her. I could have used a little of her heartbreak in my favor.

I had been dreaming about Bella since the first day I started working for her. They were violent, blood-filled dreams that for an unfathomable reason turned me on like nothing else did. I would fuck her until she passed out; I´d bite the lips on her face and her pussy until I tasted the blood in my mouth and drank it fervently, craving her screams and her sobs.

In the beginning, I would wake up from those dreams unbelievably freaked out, but soaking wet. Soon enough, I started to embrace this dark side of mine.

I heard her giggle and fought the urge to scream in frustration.

"Come on, baby," he whispered loud enough for anyone in the shop to hear him. "Let´s go home… or if you want-" he lowered his voice and spoke directly in her ear, so I was left to imagine what dirty thing he said.

Bella blushed, but smiled blissfully and led him to the back of the shop.

I let a few minutes pass then followed them.

He was fucking her against the farthest, darkest wall, holding her hands with one of his while the other supported her leg up. His mouth muffled most of her moans, but I could still hear her unbearable pleasure.

I swallowed bile, but I would bide my time.

She would be mine.

_**Finiso**_

**A/N:**

I borrowed the last-name Jamieson (it was truly perfect for my Victoria, though in no way related to the character that I borrowed it from) from a fantastic canon fic I´m reading: **Harvest Moon by content1**. I´m loving it. If you are into canon stories, give this a chance.

Thanks again to my beautiful friend, **Breath-of-Twilight**, for betaing this story. Love you, sweets. Like a lot.

Thanks to **texasbella** for hosting the Drabble Wars. I know she needs her time for her soon-to-be-published writing, and yet, she takes some of it and invests it on us. You are awesome, babe.

And most especially, thanks to **you** who enjoy reading my words.

I enjoy reading your words, too.


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